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(No Model.) I t W H. CAMP.

KEY RAQK. I No. 287,623. r Patented Oct. 30, 1883.

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To an whom it may concern.-

- UNITED -ST vr s PATENT, OFFICE.

WALLACE n. .OAMP, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE/ sCovILL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, on SAME PLACE. 1 I

KEY- RAC K;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent LBJ-287,623, dated October 30, 1883. V Application filed September 10, 1883. (No model.)

Be it known that I, WALLACE H. CAMP, of Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Key-Racks; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in

Figural, a face View of the board; Fig. 2, a vertical section.

This invention relates to an improvement in racks for holding keys, designed with special reference to post-office use. I

The manufacturer of post-officeboxes such as now generally used sends the number required for a-single office in a mass, and with them must be sent several keys for each lock, and as the keys must be sent separate or detached, great confusion often exists. in properly placing the keys. Again, after theboxes are set up, the duplicate keys are to be retained by the postmasters, and if keptin a mass, as they usu- 35jsists in a key-board having spring-hooks attached thereto, the hook end free, the shank made fast to the board, the mouthofthe hook toward the board, and so that the point lies substantially upon the board, the hook end of the key rounded or inclined from the board outward so that the bow of the key pressed up against the hook will spring the hook outward, and so that the bow will pass within the grasp of the hook, and then when the key is required a still further forcing up of the hook will bring the lower side of the bow against the end of the hook and force itoutward for the escape of the key, as more fully hereinafter described. y

A represents the key-board, which is made is bent downward, following substantially the .will lie substantially upon the surface.

surface for a distance, and then outward, and its, end returned inward and upward, as seen in Fig. 2, and so that the nose b of the hook V That portion of the hook'between the shank and the nose serves as a spring, the tendency of which is to hold the nose of the hook against the board. One of these hooks is arranged for each number, as seen in Fig. 1. The nose of the hook being turned upward leaves the outside of the nose inclined downward from the board. To insert a key, take the key and force its bow against the board and under the nose of the hook, as seen in broken lines, Fig. 2, and press upward. The key passes up on the surface'of theboard and forces the hook out- 7 5 ward until the opening in the bow is above the nose of the hook. Then the spring re acting, returns the key onto the board and engages the loop, as seen in Figs..l and 2. The hooks are .of sufficient size to hold several 89 keys, so that allthe keys for a certain number may be placed upon the hook corresponding to that number. WVhen'a key is required to be taken from the board, take hold of the key,

as before, and press upward, bringing the lower side of the opening in the bow against the hook, as seen in broken lines at the lower hook, Fig. 2, and press upward. The hook will be forced out, as before, and the bow.

pass above'the nose of the hook and clear from 0 it, so that the action of the hook to make a positive engagement with the key or to permit its removal is automatic. To prevent dis- This prevents the displacement of the hook by any transverse force which may be brought upon it. Vith each set of boxes one or. more boards, according to the number, are thus prepared, the keys placed thereon and sent with the boxes, thus avoiding any possible confusion of keys, the key for each box being readily indicated by its position on the board cor- .responding to the number of the box to which vided with a series of hooks, B, the shank of the hook secured to the board, the nose of the hook turned inward and upward toward the face of the board, whereby a key may be forced up between the hook and board and into engagement with the hook, or removed therefrom by a like movement of the key, substantially as described.

2. A key-rack board constructed with grooves (I, combined with the hooks B, arranged in said grooves, the shank of the hook secured to the board and the nose resting in the groove, substantially as described.

VALLACE H. CAMP.

Witnesses:

M. L. SPERRY, C. M. DE Mom. 

